Tour de Carl – DAY 1 – First Time Ever Wild Camping

London – Kent

Hello there. My name’s Carl and this is my bike and that’s Big Ben. And today we are setting off on a big European bike ride and you’re coming with us. So let’s go on the tour to car. [Music] So that’s right. We are going to be cycling across Europe. But here’s the exciting part. You’re all going to decide where we’re going exactly. [Music] Throughout this journey, I’m going to be leaving posts on my community page, and there you’ll be able to vote on where you’d like to see me go. As you can see on your screen now, it looks like we’re heading towards Belgium first. [Music] And this is just day one. I’ve got those harmony days cycling across Europe. But what a beautiful day to start on. And what better place to start than here in the city of London. There’s the Tower of London on the shore. Some of the areas in London don’t have have snake veins. The aisle of dogs, seven insisted, but my personal favorite, elephant and castle. when I’m [Music] so out of central London now, you know, the touristy area, Big Ben, Tower of London and all that. And we’re in the suburbs. We’re in a place called Beckford and we’re heading towards Maidstone and that is around 4 hours away, but we’re going to stop off a couple of times. So, It may even take longer. And once we’ve reached Maidstone, we’re going to try and find somewhere where we can wild camp for the night. We should get there. It’s 2:00 p.m. now. So, we should get there in the evening time. And what we’ll do is we’ll set up our tent and then we’ll cook something on our camping stove. Oh, the anticipation. What are we going to cook? Well, you’ll have to stick around to find out, won’t you? I’ll give you the clue. It begins with B, and that’s all I’m saying. So, I’ll catch up with you once we’re a little bit further down the road. [Music] [Music] Not too sure what these buildings are behind me here, but they look historically right on the river temps here. Really shy. [Music] Anyway, let’s move on. That’s my solution. So, the first problem I’ve encountered is this bottle. You can’t open it with your mouth. So, it’s it’s tricky to open whilst you’re on the bike. And I’ve just dropped the lid. And a bus, one of those big red London buses has just ran over it. We’ve stopped for a break. We’re on the river temps and I’ve just been to Tesco, filled up on some water, some flavored water and a twister, which is melting. So, I’ve got meies here, but um the twist is melting, so we’ll have to eat the buties quick. But I’m dying for a drink. So, let’s add some of this flavored water. White grape and blackberry flavor. Well, that was much needed. Now, these buddies, I had a farewell barbecue last night with me family and we had these ribs St. Louis cut. They are just something else. They take about 6 hours to cook and um big massive slab of ribs. In fact, I’ll show you a picture of them. There they are. There. Um and there was one left. So, we just stuck it on a buzzy delicious. But um when we set off the arrival time was around 5:00 p.m. in Kent. Now the arrival time, this was before we’ve stopped as well, is 6:30. Somehow we’re losing time an hour and a half longer than expected. So I don’t think we’re going to arrive until 9 or 10:00 tonight. Helenade. Disgusting. That sounds enjoying me. But yeah, you hear that? Cough his guts up. Anyway, uh yeah, I hope it’s still light by the time we get there. Today’s g have to be a short day because we didn’t set off until 1:00 p.m. I didn’t get to London till 12:00 p.m. and we didn’t leave um where we started at the Big Ben Houses apartment. I didn’t leave there until at 1:00 p.m. So, we’ll cut this short. You know, it’s the first day. Most other days we’re going to be starting early in the morning, which gives us all day to get to our destination. Today we’ve started in the afternoon, but uh hopefully, as I say, it’s still light by the time we get there. Me twist is all melted. Oh well, by the way, here’s our mascot, Nelly. Say hello, Nelly. She’s coming with us. Well, for the view. I do love a twister though. [Music] I’m going to be I’ve just stopped under this bridge, a little bit of shade, just to have a drink. But we’re out of London now. Well out of London. I can see the sign for the county of Kent just ahead. So, let’s go. I thought Google Maps was sending me up the motorway then. [ __ ] yourself. Well, I suppose this is our first challenge this climb here. Still no closer to the countryside. Well, we’re still on busy roads, but it’s starting to look a little bit clearer. And we’ve got a nice little downhill section here. You okay, Nelly? Are you enjoying the ride? Thought so. Too steep this one. [Applause] So, it’s been a long day cycling. We’re almost at the end. We’ve met a friend here. This is Phil. And Phil’s also a YouTuber. What’s your channel called? No Brakes NBR. No Brakes NBR. And he’s also on Twitch and he he uh he goes on bike rides around this area and takes his subscribers and followers with him. But he’s on an electric bike and he’s offered to help me out and give me a push up the hill. So, uh, we ready? Well, you may be. Let’s go for it. Right. Oh, here we go. Here we go. I’m not even I’m not even ped. You know what? I’ve needed this It’s been a tough day. Do you fancy coming all the way to Europe with me? No, not today. All right. Thanks, Phil. Oh, he’s pushing me again. Let’s go. He’s just gear. He’s changing gear. Oh, what are we We’re doing 10 km per hour uphill. I think this is the fastest this bike’s ever gone. Wow. I can get used to this. I might get one of those. Should have got one of those myself. Really? Should have got one of these yourself. There’s some ladies here picking what are they? Apples. Apples. Picking apples from the bush. All right, we’re on the flat now. Thanks, Phil. No dramas. That was a That was great help. See you later. See you later, mate. Bye-bye. That was great, wasn’t it? I’m fuming. I’ve just been to Little to get some snacks for tonight. I put them on the back of me bike. I thought they’ll be okay. But we’re going to stop soon anyway. And look, the [ __ ] biscuits have been squashed. Look. I’m not going back in to get more. I’ve got some chocolate there. That’ll have to do. [ __ ] sake. Finally, a little bit of countryside. Well, sort of. I can still hear the motorway. [Music] It’s hard to find a quiet spot here on the outskirts of London. Well, we’re well out of London now. intense, but still I can’t avoid the traffic. Google Maps wants me to cycle up there. Are they having a laugh? I won’t even be able to push me bike up there. Black eyes from the found. [Music] Come on. There’s got to be somewhere around here. I’m feeling positive. We’re going to find somewhere pretty soon. down. So, I think we’re going to camp in that woods somewhere if we can find a good spot. The sun is going to set pretty soon. So, we need to get a move on, don’t we? [Music] So, this is our home for the night. It’s the first time I’ve ever wild camped, so I haven’t got a clue if it’s a good spot or not, but it’s in the middle of nowhere. Lay down beside me. Love for keeping [Music] down. So, here’s our setup, our tent here. It’s a bit messy at the moment, so I’ll sort it out, but I’m just starving. I need to get something to be first. But, uh, yeah. We should be all right. I’ve got me We’re having bolognese and pasta. So, I’ve got me pasta cooking there. And there’s me bolognese ready to go on next. That’s homemade that. So, yeah. Looking forward to this. Absolutely starving. So, today it’s been really enjoyable. It’s been great. Don’t get me wrong. Hard work. Uh, day one it was always going to be hard work. I’m sure there’s going to be tougher days in terms of, you know, gradient, but we started at 1:00 p.m. So, we had we didn’t have long to get to our destination. I’ve got to admit, Google Maps thinks I’m a lot faster than what I am. It was saying 4 hours to Maidstone. We’re not even in Maidstone here. This is there’s another hour to go to Maidstone. But if we start early tomorrow, hopefully we’ll reach Dova in the uh in the evening. So, I’ll be back with you once this food’s ready. So there we are. Bolognese and pasta wild camping style. Right, I’ll put the torch back up there. Me head torch. Try and use it as a bit of a lamp. Not the best lamp in the world. And I’ll set this I’ll put the GoPro in me shoe and see if it just sits there. Uh so I hope you can see me. It’s a big heavy plate of food or pan of food, but I’m starving, so there’s a chance I could possibly eat it all. Let’s give it a go. Look at that. [Music] [Music] When it comes to food, I don’t do things by halves. [Music] Surely, this is the best part of bike packing, wild camping. At the end of the day, reflecting on it, was it a Was it a success? I think so. Okay, we’re not quite at the destination we wanted to reach, but we’re only an hour from there, and we’ve got all day to make up that hour tomorrow. So, um, yeah. So, just reflecting with a nice meal. You can’t do that bike packing all day, find a place to wild camp and then have a pot noodle or something. So, if you’re a food if you’re a foodie like me, then uh we’re going to be eating some nice meals on this trip. And once I finish this, well, I was going to say I’m going to have a cup of tea and biscuits, but me biscuits got flattened, didn’t they? So, I’ve got some chocolate. Going to have a cup of tea and some chocolate. But this is nice. A little bit of mud in it. Maybe too much pasta. Definitely burns off more calories than what I’ve consumed today. Anyway, I suppose that’s the end of the video. You’re not going to miss out on much. I’m going to make a cup of tea as I say and then I’m going to go to sleep. I’ll try and edit me video and get it out, but I’m knackered. So, we may we may need we may have to wait for tomorrow. Okay. And on that note, I hope you’ve enjoyed it and I’ll see you all in the morning.